Age and risk-taking in French naval crew

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of age in French naval crew on risk-proneness. We tested 130 male navy personnel, age range 19-41 yr, with EVAR, a visual analog scale designed to rate risk-proneness and composed of 24 items distributed among 5 factors: "self control," "danger-seeking" "energy," "impulsiveness," and "invincibility." We observed a significant negative correlation between "energy" and age, whereas the other factors were not influenced by age. Risk-proneness change is limited and should not be a safety issue in the decision-making process if the age of navy crews is going to increase moderately.